Mother of five gets 5 months in prison

Updated 6:45 am, Tuesday, February 12, 2013

ALBANY — A 10-time convicted crook was sentenced to five months in federal prison and another five months' home detention Monday for depositing a stolen check worth more than $10,000 in her bank account.

Kenita Hoke, 45, of Troy, shed tears and hugged supporters following her sentencing by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Thomas McAvoy.

A jury convicted the mother of five children last April of bank fraud and forgery of a treasury check. On Sept. 24, 2009, Hoke deposited in her own bank account in Albany County another woman's check for $10,190, then "unsuccessfully attempted to accuse others of being responsible for her criminal conduct," Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Grogan told the judge in a presentencing memo.

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The prosecutor noted that Hoke has 22 arrests across two states, resulting in 10 convictions, with this one her first felony.

"The defendant has demonstrated slight regard for the law for a very long time," the prosecutor stated. "Kenita Hoke has consistently placed her interests ahead of the interests of others. She steals, and has often been caught. Perhaps this prosecution will convince the defendant that theft and dishonesty are to be discouraged."

Hoke's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Timothy Austin, told the judge in a presentencing memo that most of Hoke's convictions, with the exception of two shoplifting convictions in the last decade, are more than 15 years old.

"Ms. Hoke is the only possible caregiver and the sole provider of support, financial and emotional, for her children," the lawyer wrote. "Her incarceration and separation from her family would have a devastating effect on her family. A period of incarceration, however brief, would likely render her children wards of the state."

The judge allowed Hoke to report for prison on March 26. Austin later requested it be delayed until April 23 when the father of two of Hoke's children will be released from prison.